Communication device prompt selection

ABSTRACT

A method includes determining, at a communication device, a designation of a source communication device based on information related to a communication from the source communication device. The method further includes selecting, at the communication device and based on the designation, a prompt from multiple prompts. The prompt includes a first prompt in response to the designation being a first designation of multiple designations. The prompt includes a second prompt in response to the designation being a second designation of the multiple designations. The method includes sending the prompt from the communication device to the source communication device.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority from, and is a continuation applicationof, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/951,081, filed Nov. 24, 2015,which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/486,911, filed Sep. 15, 2014, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,237,230,which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/930,704, filed Aug. 31, 2004, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,867,724,which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for selectingprompts.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

A communications terminal, such as a cellular phone or a pagingreceiver, generates a ring tone (calling tone) or vibrates upon receiptof an incoming call or message, such as a text or an instant message(“IM”), to notify the user of the call receipt. A mobile wirelessterminal such as a mobile telephone, for example, has a “terminatingring function” for informing the terminal user of an incoming voice callfrom other mobile wireless terminals or an incoming data call fromvarious information providing servers. The terminating ring functionincludes various modes such as a vibration mode or a melody mode thatoutputs a ring tone to a receiving terminal.

A conventional mobile wireless terminal typically generates a singleterminating ring tone designated by the user upon receipt of eachincoming call. Mobile wireless terminals store a multiplicity of tones,melodies, or other modes, in its internal memory. Many cell phonessupport downloading melodies from a melody providing server via theInternet. The downloaded tones can also be stored in the phone's memory.

Not surprisingly, then, distinctive ringing has become a hugely popularfeature with consumer and business telephony customers. Present daysolutions support caller ID information that triggers the distinctiveringing. The distinctive ring is either network-actuated, i.e., thenetwork sends the appropriate signal to the device, or is actuated bysoftware on the client device.

On mobile phones, for example, the device interprets caller idinformation associated with the incoming call signal to play anappropriate ring-tone. A user may group calling party contacts andassociate one or more ring-tones with each group or person in thedevice's memory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is further described in the detailed descriptionthat follows, by reference to the noted drawing, by way of non-limitingexamples of embodiments of the present disclosure, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a specific embodiment of a notificationmode system of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure, through one or more ofits various aspects, embodiments and/or specific features orsub-components, is intended to bring out one or more of the advantagesthat will be evident from the description. The present disclosure isdescribed with frequent reference to phones or cell phones. It isunderstood that a phone is merely an example of a specific embodiment ofthe present disclosure, which is directed generically to communicationterminals, mobile communication equipment and devices, together withattendant networks, systems and methods within the scope of thedisclosure. The terminology, therefore, is not intended to limit thescope of the disclosure.

The present disclosure provides enhanced ringing features. In one ormore of its various embodiments, the present disclosure provides:

(a) a more flexible user-established set of rules, customized in asubscriber profile database, that enables the ring-tone to vary based oncaller-id, caller priority, call-urgency (as determined by caller), callcontext (e.g., is the user currently filtering calls?), and so forth.

(b) call set-up logic that applies the profile rules prior to completingthe call set-up. The call set-up logic, for example, enables thesubscriber's phone to prompt the calling party to indicate the urgencyof the call and to process the caller's reply to the prompt to selectthe alert or notification mode indicated by the reply.

(c) an ability to play “buzz-tones” to extend the basic distinctiveringing feature to the “silent” mode that is currently available oncell-phones. For example, one buzz may indicate a low-priority call,whereas a buzz-buzz sequence indicates a high-priority incoming call.This feature is of particular utility to subscribers with hearingdisabilities.

Other kinds of alerts (audio/motion/visual) like flashing colors on adisplay, moving pictures (such as an animated cartoon displayingagitation or a sense of urgency) and the like, and any combination ofnotification modes, are contemplated by alternative embodiments.

Advantages of the Present Disclosure Include:

1. A simple web interface to input user profile data, policies andpreferences. The same profile applies across different modes oftelephony such as wireline/wireless communication, text and instantmessaging, paging, and so forth. An alternative embodiment provides anInteractive Voice Recognition (“IVR”) system for profile data input. Theprofile can be applied to any type or mode of incoming communication,even in conjunction with call rerouting applications. For example, ifthe call disposition of a particular subscriber is to always forward tovoice-mail, the profile applies to the alert for the receipt ofvoicemail. Likewise, for call-forwarding, the appropriate notificationmode actuates at the end-use terminal of the subscriber, even if theterminal is a wireline POTS phone.

2. Call set-up logic with a highly flexible profile that extends to anarbitrary limit the basic caller-id-triggered notification. That is, thecomplexity of the notification protocols depends mainly on the ease ofsetup with the interface, and on the complexity-tolerance of thesubscriber, not on any particular technical limitation. In principle,the contingency and contextual factors that differentiate ringing, andthe ringing or other notification modes themselves, are readilyextendable beyond the examples described herein.

3. Ring-tones to associate buzz-tones, LED flashing, and other kinds ofalerts with pre-defined incoming call categories.

4. Auditory, tactile and and/or visual cues as to the urgency of theincoming call assure that the subscriber easily detects and recognizesurgent or important calls.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a specific embodiment of a notificationmode system of the present disclosure. The system involves threecomponents, broadly speaking. Subscriber related elements are indicatedby 100-series identifying numerals, application server elements areindicated by 200 series identifying numerals, and network/routingelements are indicated by series 300 identifying numbers.

Profile service 110 presents a web-based interface (or a device-specificclient) 112 to user 120, represented by a mobile phone terminal. User120 establishes a priority grouping for each contact. Priorities may beas broad as emergency/medium/low, for example, or may specify frequentcallers such as kids, husband, wife, office, and so forth, and,moreover, priority categories can be cross referenced to callers in theprofile database to further hone the nature of the incoming call.

For example, a matrix position identified as kids/emergency is assigneda notification mode such as loud ringing together with buzzing orvibrating and LED flashing, and indicates an injury requiring attentionor transportation, whereas husband/low is assigned a melody or forwardedto voicemail and indicates an addition to a shopping list or a DVDrental request.

The user establishes a set of ring-tone identifiers 114 as discussedabove, and defines ring disposition rules with, for example, simpleif/then statement logic. That is, IF caller priority=MEDIUM, and callerurgency=HIGH, THEN ring-disposition=IMPORTANT. Ring-disposition rulesdetermined by user availability are also contemplated.

Application server 210 hosts application logic 212 to process profilerules 112 and 14 and determine the caller urgency. To determine theurgency, logic 212 prompts the caller by playing a message to thecaller: “The party you have called is currently busy—please indicate ifthis is an important call by pressing 1 for Yes, or 2 for No.”

Alternative embodiments use an IVR system to allow the calling party tojust speak YES or NO. The called party can customize the message. Tocontacts designated as IMPORTANT, for instance, the prompt plays amessage to the caller such as “I'm currently busy, but if you indicatethat the call is important, I will step out to handle this call.”

Application logic 212 accepts network triggers for incoming call 316either through Parlay Gateway 312 or directly through Softswitch 314.Standard PSTN elements to allow the call to be routed to voice mail 318or directly to subscriber 120. The signaling protocol to convey thering-disposition to the subscriber depends on the nature of end-userdevice 120.

In a standard PSTN device, end-device 120 does not possess anyintelligence. The PSTN SSP, therefore, is responsible for producing thedistinctive rings through existing mechanisms for distinctive ringing.

In a mobile network, mobile device 120 hosts the applicationintelligence to select the ring-tone, based on the incoming ringdisposition 212, conveyed through the signaling protocols over the airinterface between network 310 and mobile device 120. If the ring-tonesare hosted on client device 120, a setup procedure allows a subscriberto “tag” different ring-tones with incoming ring dispositions 212.

For example, a code representing the ring-disposition decision fromnetwork 310 is appended to the calling party ID in the call setupmessage. Upon the reception and decoding of this information, the clientwill then be able to alert user 120 with appropriate methods and signalsassociated with pre-established ring-disposition 212.

Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) terminals having sufficientintelligence operate analogously to the mobile device case. If, however,the endpoint is a dumb handset attached to a VoIP interface, theinterface, rather than a central office, includes the hardware andsoftware necessary to generate ring patterns.

Although the disclosure has been described with reference to severalexemplary embodiments, it is understood that the words that have beenused are words of description and illustration, rather than words oflimitation. Changes may be made within the purview of the appendedclaims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from thescope and spirit of the disclosure in all its aspects. Although thedisclosure has been described with reference to particular means,materials and embodiments, the disclosure is not intended to be limitedto the particulars disclosed; rather, the disclosure extends to allfunctionally equivalent technologies, structures, methods and uses suchas are within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a receiver ofa first communication device, information related to a communicationfrom a second communication device, a designation of the secondcommunication device determinable based on the information; selecting,at a dedicated prompt selection circuit coupled to the receiver, aparticular prompt at the first communication device based on thedesignation, the particular prompt comprising: a first prompt if thedesignation is a first designation; and a second prompt if thedesignation is a second designation; and sending, by a transmittercoupled to the dedicated prompt selection circuit, the particular promptfrom the first communication device to the second communication device.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, at the firstcommunication device, a particular destination for the communicationbased on the designation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thedesignation comprises an emergency priority contact designation, amedium priority contact designation, or a low priority contactdesignation.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising selecting, atthe first communication device, a personalized prompt as the particularprompt if the designation comprises the emergency priority contactdesignation, the personalized prompt corresponding to the first promptor the second prompt.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprisingselecting, at the first communication device, a default prompt as theparticular prompt if the designation comprises the medium prioritycontact designation or the low priority contact designation.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the firstcommunication device, a response to the particular prompt from thesecond communication device, the response including second informationrelated to an urgency of the communication; selecting, at the firstcommunication device, an alert based on the urgency of the communicationand based on the designation; and generating the alert at the firstcommunication device.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:selecting a first alert if the urgency of the communication is high andthe designation is a medium priority contact designation; and selectinga second alert if the urgency of the communication is high and thedesignation is a low priority contact designation.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the alert comprises an auditory component, a visualcomponent, a tactile component, or a combination thereof.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein, in response to the designation being associatedwith an emergency priority contact designation and the secondinformation indicating that the communication has high urgency, thealert includes the auditory component, the visual component, and thetactile component.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, aftersending the particular prompt, receiving a voice mail from the secondcommunication device, wherein the communication comprises a call fromthe second communication device, and wherein the voice mail isassociated with the call.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising,after sending the particular prompt, receiving a communication setupmessage from an application server, wherein the communication setupmessage includes an indicator of an urgency of the communication basedon a response to the particular prompt.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the communication comprises a call, and wherein thecommunication setup message comprises a call set up message.
 13. Acommunication device comprising: a receiver configured to receiveinformation related to a communication from a second communicationdevice, a designation of the second communication device determinablebased on the information; a dedicated prompt selection circuit coupledto the receiver, the dedicated prompt selection circuit configured toselect a particular prompt based on the designation, the particularprompt comprising: a first prompt if the designation is a firstdesignation; and a second prompt if the designation is a seconddesignation; and a transmitter coupled to the dedicated prompt selectioncircuit, the transmitter configured to send the particular prompt to thesecond communication device.
 14. The communication device of claim 13,further comprising a circuit configured to identify a particulardestination for the communication based on the designation.
 15. Thecommunication device of claim 14, wherein the particular destinationincludes a voice mail destination or a subscriber destination.
 16. Thecommunication device of claim 13, wherein the designation comprises anemergency priority contact designation, a medium priority contactdesignation, or a low priority contact designation.
 17. Thecommunication device of claim 16, wherein the prompt selection circuitis configured to select a personalized prompt as the particular promptif the designation comprises the emergency priority contact designation,the personalized prompt corresponding to the first prompt or the secondprompt.
 18. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the promptselection circuit is configured to select a default prompt as theparticular prompt if the designation comprises the medium prioritycontact designation or the low priority contact designation.
 19. Acomputer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving, at a first communication device, informationrelated to a communication from a second communication device, adesignation of the second communication device determinable based on theinformation; selecting, at a dedicated prompt selection circuit, aparticular prompt at the first communication device based on thedesignation, the particular prompt comprising: a first prompt if thedesignation is a first designation; and a second prompt if thedesignation is a second designation; and sending the particular promptfrom the first communication device to the second communication device.20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein theoperations further comprise identifying, at the first communicationdevice, a particular destination for the communication based on thedesignation.